Transuranic Waste Characterization and Certification for Shipment to WIPP at the INEEL

Abstract

Department of Energy (DOE) weapons program legacy Transuranic (TRU) waste stored at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is scheduled for shipment and disposal in the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility in New Mexico beginning in 1998. The Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) located within the INEEL contains facilities and equipment to manage low-level, mixed (hazardous and radioactive), and TRU solid radioactive waste generated by the INEEL and other DOE laboratories and operations. The primary mission of the RWMC is safe disposal of INEEL-generated low-level waste (LLW), the temporary storage of mixed and TRU waste, and the characterization and certification of TRU waste in the Stored Waste Examination Pilot Plant (SWEPP) for shipment and disposal.This paper provides an overview of the TRU waste characterization and certification activities at the INEEL. The normal process associated with the waste characterization involves a process flow through the SWEPP facility that begins with the drum selection and labeling effort and ends with the data review and quality verification activity. In between the drums pass through a number of inspection and assay stations including a real-time radioscopic system, a neutron assay system, and a gamma-ray spectrometer system. Each step in the process is designed to provide data required for reporting the waste physical, chemical, and radiological characteristics, and structural integrity of the drum in accordance with the transportation requirements and the acceptance criteria requirements for disposal at the WIPP. The TRU waste characterization and certification is critical path for the start of shipment of TRU waste out of the State of Idaho inaccordance with the DOE and State of Idaho Settlement Agreement.